The present invention relates to a protective device for the hulls of boats, and in particular, to a protective device for the lower surface of the bow of a boat. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a device for protecting the bow of a boat when the boat is beached on a shore.
Various protective devices for the hulls of maritime vessels are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,022 discloses a boat beaching apron which protects the bow of a boat upon beaching. The boat beaching apron is tied to the bow of the boat with a plurality of lines, and utilizes a V-shaped buoyant element for maintaining the position of the apron on the bow of the boat. Also, the boat beaching apron of this reference utilizes a pair of water scoop means for exerting a drag upon the apron to sweep the apron back under the bow of the boat and drape the apron against the lower portion of the bow.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,220,025 discloses another hull protector for small craft which is attached to the bow of the boat via a hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,619 shows another form of bottom protector for a small boat.
Another boat protective device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,414 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,260,282 and 3,693,574 show portable boat ramps and landing apparatus for beaching a boat.
Although the above references show various devices suitable for protecting the bow of a boat when beaching, all the above devices suffer from the limitations that they are either bulky, difficult to use, or do not easily allow the protective device to be positioned on the boat when the boat is waterborne and in a consistent manner such that the protective device can be reliably positioned on the lower surface of the bow of the boat to protect it from damage.